Vegetable Samosa Recipe

on January 17, 2013

Summer is about simple food with friends and family. With a jam-packed social calendar for summer with Christmas, New Years and BBQ’s, there is a recurring theme of bring a plate, maybe I am finally meeting my frugal friends. Catering for an occasion can be a costly and this time around we are on a budget and living off our vegetable garden. However these bite sized samosa’s are an affordable and tasty treat for any occasion.

Last year at Christmas my sister-in-law Lily brought these vegetable samosas to our table. It was Marg’s recipe (my mother-in-law), the only thing is that the recipe did not have any measurements or exact numbers, so each time it was made it would always taste a little different. I like to know when you are making something it will taste all most the same as last time. Though, I also have a habit of writing down the ingredients and not the measurements, most home cooks know how much a cup of flour will look like or a tablespoon of salt. Sometimes the chef comes out in me.

I rang Marg to get this recipe, she relayed it over the phone from her house in the Northern Rivers the line a little crackly. The distance to their house is 250km away from ours, up and down over many hills from one end to the other. Their phone line is notorious for not always working, yet if it is not working you can not get a hold of them as mobile phone reception just does not exist in their valley. I listened carefully with a pen and paper ready to go. As Marg was remembering the method and the ingredients, she could not believe she had not made them for such a long time, you do forget some of the little things that are in a recipe – I can vouch for that. Harry (my father-in-law) was calling out ingredients that also go into the mixture. We both laughed, I realised that recipe sharing is not forgotten. With this recipe now going up as a record of how to make these, I hope that we will all refer back to it, to remember how to make them and remember any missing ingredients that we may have forgotten between all of us.

They are best served warm with a sweet apple chutney or a lime pickle, it is up to you. I like them as is hot, warm or cold. Leftovers are great for late nights and you need a small morsel of food to get your hangover the push it needs.

Place the potato and carrots turmeric into a large saucepan and add 1 ½ cups of water, bring to the boil, then allow to steam for 15 min. Remove lid, add the peas and cook for a further 5min. Check how much liquid is in the bottom of the pan, you will need a small amount to stay in the pot, remove any excess.

In a frypan – on a medium heat melt the ghee, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and toast till they start popping. Add the ginger, garlic and chili powder. Cook for a minute or till fragrant and then add the aesofetida.

Add the spices into the potato pot and stir through along with the salt. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Cut each puff pastry into 4 squares and then into triangles. Fold the triangles long side, making a small pocket, put two teaspoons of mixture in. Fold one edge to the middle centre of one side, and bring the other over to join and seal the join. Place this last side bottom down on a baking tray.

Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sesame seeds before baking. Bake for 20 min or until golden.

Serve warm with your favourite sweet and spicy chutney.

Notes

You may need to add more salt than you think, as potatoes love salt and absorb it. *Vegetable oil can be used if there are strict vegetarians. You will also need to check your puff pastry ingredients.

I really love samosas but they often have memories of nasty frozen ones to contend with ( remember the ones you used to get at the pub finger food happy hour deep fried and no filling. Yours look plump and crispy and full of goodies

Wow! These are so pretty. I have a habit of scribbling weird, half-recipe notes down while I cook, too. Sometimes I even forget to title them and if I buy a lot of an ingredient and make a few things with it, I can’t remember which “recipe” is for which!

I have a habit of writing down the ingredients but forget to write down how to make it. Questions like how long in the oven, do I need to soak something and how long was it simmering for. Thanks for stopping by.

Wow – I am so inspired!! I would love to try my hand at this samosa recipe. Being Indian I usually make these for evenning teas,Its tasty, but not what appeals to my “tongue’s”-eye – this version sure does.